U.N. - will not support ousting Saddam Hussein

HL U.S. move to oust Saddam studied

Byline: R. Jeffrey Smith;John M. Goshko

Credit: Washington Post

DD 11/25/91

SO READING EAGLE (REAG)

Edition: EMO

Section: NEWS

Page: A1

LP WASHINGTON - Frustrated by the inconclusive end of the Persian
Gulf War and facing new criticism from congressional Democrats and
presidential challengers, the Bush administration is reviewing
proposals for a more aggressive U.S. campaign to force the overthrow
of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, according to senior U.S.
officials.

TX The proposals, some of which have been floated by Iraqi
opposition groups and U.S. lawmakers, include providing Iraqi rebels
with such overt or covert assistance as military training and spare
parts or helping to protect a provisional, alternative government
that some rebels want to establish in northern Iraq.
There are differing views among officials and participating
departments about whether any plan to oust Saddam is worth the
effort.
Looming over the discussions is the belief of U.S. intelligence
experts that the plans would fail, largely because they depend on
some degree of U.S. leverage over internal Iraqi politics and some
degree of cooperation among Iraqi rebel groups. Both are virtually
non-existent.
""There are a lot of ideas out there . . . (and) I would not
rule out that we would move in more aggressive ways"" to destabilize
Saddam"s regime, said an official involved in the deliberations.
""The (decision) process is very alive . . . and nothing has been
rejected.""
The review is being conducted by an interagency committee under
the direction of the White House.
Less than a year away from what President Bush hopes will be his
election to a second term, he is increasingly concerned that
Democrats will use Saddam"s continued hold on power to tarnish the
glow of the gulf victory, according to Republican sources.
Two weeks ago, for example, a potential Democratic presidential
candidate, New York Gov. Mario M. Cuomo, who opposed starting the war
last January, said that ""in the end, (Bush) . . . made the worse
deal.""
""He had a war, Cuomo said, ""killed people - he didn"t, but the
war did - and he fought it very well, except, in the end, he didn"t
get the objective, which was Saddam Hussein. And you can take
pictures of Saddam Hussein now reviewing the troops.""
Among those advocating a new U.S. policy is Rep. Stephen J.
Solarz, D-N.Y., a Foreign Affairs subcommittee chairman, who has
urged direct aid to a coalition of anti-Saddam groups.
Solarz and Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Claiborne
Pell, D-R.I., said they would support U.S. diplomatic recognition and
military protection for a provisional government established by
Kurdish, Shiite and Sunni rebels in the part of northern Iraq now
monitored by the United Nations.
The principal aim of the plan - first promoted here during a
recent visit by Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani - would be to induce
Iraqi army troops to defect to the rebels.
Some senior Defense Department officials - despite skepticism
from the Joint Chiefs of Staff - also have pushed for a more active
approach to the Iraqi problem than the current sanctions that sharply
restrict Iraq"s trade with the rest of the world.
""A lot of people here have been uncomfortable about the state of
affairs inside Iraq,"" one official said. ""The last thing you want
is a kind of Rhodesia (outcome) . . . where sanctions took years to
have any effect. There is a lot of interest in finding more active
roles"" to play in Iraq, including helping disaffected Iraqi military
officers.
Independent Western groups recently have complained that the
sanctions are working against the wrong people, imposing grave
hardship on Iraqi citizens, many of whom are reported suffering from
food shortages and poor sanitary conditions.
A group of 15 Democratic and two Republican senators cited these
hardships in a letter to Bush last Monday seeking strong U.S. actions
to force Saddam"s compliance with a U.N. plan for food distribution.
Iraq refused to consent during negotiations in Baghdad last week
* with a U.N. representative, Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan.
British officials have said that as long as Iraq continues to
comply with U.N. inspection and monitoring requirements, neither
London nor other European capitals will support Western attempts to
overthrow Saddam.
And in Turkey, where permission for allied forces to operate from
Turkish air bases in support of Kurdish rebels is due to lapse Jan.
1, there is little enthusiasm for actions that would embolden the
Kurds in northern Iraq to press harder for an independent state that
would threaten Turkish borders.